Nope, nothing from the state board. In fact, I called to bug them let them know I was still thinking fondly of them, and was irritated pleased to learn that the deadline of the transfer of their knowledge to me has been extended - to the 15th of December, and maybe to the end of the year.

No, I wanted to provide you with some pictures of Riley in therapy this week:

She really doesn't like the glueing and finger painting stuff

She's come a long way though. Now she just complains and does it, when before we had to force her to do it.

Puzzles and small manipulatives are a particular favorite of hers.

And she LOVES jumping.

We still deal with many many issues, and I can see that she is going to be more difficult to deal with than my others. She won't ever grow out of this, but the improvements have come. Slowly, but they have come.

I got my first official jerk off post! I must have made it now. (check out Dave's right on assertation of me below - thanks be to God that I don't pay for therapy, since he's got me spot on and I'd be wasting my money)

And, fyi, DAVE, I don't take myself too seriously. It is you who takes yourself too seriously, and YOU who should cut others some slack. If you don't like what you are reading, take note of the red box with the white x inside, up there in the right hand corner of your screen. Click it, and I'll never darken your screen again. You shouldn't have to read anything that annoys you so badly.

NOw, to clear any questions anyone else may have, I am opening the floor. Anyone want to ask me anything? I'll do my level best to answer it, as long as it's along the lines of " All hail Carmen, how wise she must be" or "MTTSM, please tell me how you became so smart/so beautiful/such a wonderful friend/such a wonderful wife and mother". Anything rude, go visit someone else's site. My nerves can't take it.

Do you remember when you were a child, and you thought that all the adults liked each other? You thought that adults always got along, no one ever fought, and everyone liked everyone. Like one big happy birthday party on steroids, all the time. You thought that all the pettiness you dealt with, all the "she said"'s and the gossip, would pass by you, once you were old enough to sign your own checks?

The only thing worse than having a migraine is puking during said migraine.

The only thing worse than that is having to make cookies for tomorrow for school, because it's Gabriel's birthday tomorrow, and you can't bear to let him down. Besides, the thought of 36 yellow smiley faces could possibly make it better.

But the best part of puking your guts out with a migraine is proving to The Hubster that, yes, indeedy, you are not feeling 100% on top of your game.

It sucks to say I told you so, but it feels damned good at the same time.

Theresa, over at Flying Piggies - see my sidebar - has started the Weekend Recipe Exchange. Her topic this week is Soups, what with the weather change and all. We've not seen the great weather change yet, although we've been able to move into pants and away from shorts, but it's not truly cold yet. I know that a lot of people are in colder climates, though, and ready for some good soup. And that's what I've got: threefour three - I can't find the other- really good soups. Try these and let me know what you think.

Spicy Cheeseburger Soup

1 1/2 cups water

2 cups cubed peeled potatoes (I usually use the already grated ones)

2 small carrots, grated (again, the pre-grated ones)

1 small onion, chopped

1/4 cup chopped green pepper (I usually use one green and one red)

1 jalepeno pepper, seeded and chopped (we don't use this)

1 garlic clove (I use three or so)

1 T beef bouillon granules

1/2 t salt

1 pound ground beef, cooked and drained

2 1/2 cups milk

3 T flour

8 ounces Velveeta (I KNOW, but it melts so well!)

1/4 to 1 t cayenne pepper (again, not in use here)

1/2 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled

Combine first nine ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. (NOTE: I usually double the liquid parts, to make more soup.) Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Stir in beef and two cups of milk; heat through. Combine flour and remaining milk until smooth and gradually stir into soup. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened and bubbly. Reduce from heat; stir in cheese until melted. Add cayenne if desired. Top with bacon just before serving.

Sausage Bean Soup

1 pound Italian sausage - sliced into coin shapes

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 garlic clove, minced

1 can butter bean, rinsed and drained

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 can beef broth

2 T shredded Parmesan cheese

1 T minced fresh basil

In a large saucepan, cook sausage, onion and garlic until the sausage is browned; drain. Add beans, tomatoes, broth and basil. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese and serve with grilled cheese sandwiches - especially good made on Italian bread with provolone or mozzarella cheese.

Taco soup

This isn't my recipe, but it's pretty close. I can't find mine right now. Interestingly enough, the recipe didn't start out as mine. I posted another recipe on a board I frequent, and somehow, the Taco Soup one was pasted on the end. A few people tried it, raved over "my" taco soup, and the rest is history. This is phenomenal topped with sour cream, crushed up taco chips and cheese. A little bit will fill you up completely.

To distract me from obsessing about the news from the school conferences today, as well as the unbearable lightness of The Hubster being on vacation, at home with the chaos that is us, 24/7:

We bought a new vehicle. To be more precise, we traded in our Suburban. The Hubster bought one over a year ago, and we were planning on selling it. Except, we didn't bother to consult with other people, and we didn't know that Suburbans were apparently no longer the IT car. The stupid frickin thing was for sale for 9 months, and we had precisely two bites on it, for less than we owed. So The Hubster decided that we'd trade it in on something that we COULD sell, something with great appeal I think he did pretty good. What do you think?

Before:

After:

Riley's happy, anyway. And it IS a really cute car. We won't hold onto it for long - we can't spare the $400 each month. We'll drive it for a month or two and then sell it. There aren't any in the paper, and the only Mini store here has a waiting list, so we should be fine.

Back tomorrow, or Saturday, with the news on the conferences. And it's not pretty.

Allegra has been coughing this entire weekend. I may have mentioned that before, hmm?

Last night was different, though. She coughed all afternoon, while playing soccer with her friend. He is a really great player, and she has to work to keep up with him, but she enjoys it, so I let her go. I gave her some albuterol midway. She came in for dinner and didn't have much appetite, said her stomach hurt. (In retrospect, it wasn't her stomach, it was her chest.) After dinner, she started coughing, and I pulled out one of our nebulizer machines. We actually have two, so we can give two kids meds at once, how FANCY!

She coughed and coughed, and I gave her another treatment. It kept up, and she puked from the effort. I was bothered enough by it to call the allergist, but it was the one who doesn't know my kids and the one time I saw her, I wasn't impressed. So I declined that, and I called the pediatrician to see which of the five was on. I like all but one, so I thought I'd have a pretty good shot there.

The nurse on call wanted me to call 911. She could hear Allegra, as she was sitting next to me, and was insistent that I needed an ambulance. I knew that we didn't - I also knew that I didn't want to go to the ER. We've done this three times in 12 months. Every time we go in, we sit in the room for an hour, they give her three treatments and some steroids and monitor her, and then send us home four hours later. It costs $500 each time. Now, I'm not going to cheap out and not get my kid the care she needs, but I knew what she needed, and I knew that the doctor could call in some steroids. The Hubster could go get them, and we'd be ok until the morning. She wasn't in her red zone, but yellow. If it was red, I'd have just gone to the ER. I do have some brains, though, and I was using them. Or at least I thought I was.

The nurse was insistent that I come in to the ER, if I didn't want to go via ambulance. I was equally insistent that she please just call the doctor - I knew it was the one I really like, and I knew that she'd do the best thing. But she also would work with me. The nurse finally said,"Well, I'm going to write down here that you are refusing to take my advice.' Hey, write whatever you want. Just call the doctor and have her call me. If she thinks I need to go in, I will.

The doctor called, and talked to me and Allegra. She was reassured by the fact that Allegra could speak in complete sentences, but bothered by the coughing. She told me that she'd call in the steroids, send The Hubster for them and give another treatment. That'd be three in 30 minutes, and if no better, she'd meet me in the ER. That was cool by me.

We got the steroids, we did the treatment, and she stopped. Not one more cough. I called the doctor back, who said I was safe to stay home if she didn't need any more albuterol before 11:30. And she didn't.

Today, I took everyone else to school, listened to Mackenzie cough all the way there, and came home, intent on calling the allergist for some steroids for her. I'd bring her in if I had to, but the allergist trusts me and she's called prednisone in before. On my way into the house, though, I was sidetracked by Emma power puking her peach yobaby yogurt all over the step into the van, the driveway, and my feet. And further sidetracked by Riley, who must have had too much cheese this weekend and started screaming. Yup, constipation and blood, again. What a mess.

I called the allergist, who it turns out is gone for a week to the AAP conference for asthma. The one I don't care for is there, and I thought that we'd have a struggle. I talked to the nurse, who knows me well - she should, by now. I told her if I had to come in, I would, but I'd have to bring a screaming Riley and a puking Emma with me. She talked to doc, explained my dilemma, and got her to call in a scrip.

What a day. But at least, I hope, we've got this taken care of. I hope.

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About Me

Carmen Staicer is a whirlwind of energy and execution, who never sleeps and drinks way too much coffee. She works from home as Social Media Programs Manager for SheKnows, and is the mom to six kids, most of whom play instruments, sing or dance and all of whom are much smarter than she will ever be. In other words, her house is never ever quiet or still. A concentration of asthma, food allergies, spectrum disorders and learning disabilities means that she spends an awful lot of time second guessing herself and Dr. Googling, as well as learning to cook everything the family might like to eat. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, boxing (she has her Black Belt in Muay Thai), sleeping, exploring coffee shops, photography, ballet class and cooking. She excels in being a smart mouth and has her major in sarcasm, with a dual minor in BS studies and avoiding laundry.